Isaiah 40:11 was written on my heart by listening to Handel’s Messiah as a kid. It famously says God will feed His flock like a shepherd and gently lead those with young. The second part of this verse planted itself in my consciousness was when I was pregnant and swollen and feeling fragile. I took comfort in the idea that God was gentle towards me because of my condition. I thought of this verse after the babies came and I slipped into a dark depression, holding onto hope that God would be patient and gentle as I struggled.
A couple days ago, I realized this promise isn’t just for mothers. Since none of us were parented perfectly we all have parts of ourselves that aren’t grown yet. In the places our parents lacked skills or even presence, we must now parent ourselves, looking for lessons we weren’t taught. God knew we’d find ourselves somewhere on the spectrum of fallible parents to absent or abusive parents and inspired David to write, “When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” Another version says, “the Lord will hold me close.” (Ps. 27:10)
So we are with young in the way that we now take responsibility for all the parts of ourselves, the places that are mature and the places where our immaturity is obvious. Like a child who runs to their parents’ bed to be comforted during a thunderstorm, I now tell my inner child that we are okay and all will be well, even if the storm is loud.
This is important because we can easily parent those parts of ourselves in a way that is cruel. I used to scold and critique—even make fun of myself for areas where I struggled.
Imagine if our inner child was walking alongside us, would they be skipping and carefree or trying not to be noticed for fear of what we’d say?
Mine was definitely cowering. Then something made made a huge difference for me.
I started to mimic how God parented me. If She could be patient and kind, maybe I could too. I grabbed hold of the idea that Her banner over me is love. And do you know what’s happened? The things I couldn’t change about myself by being harsh, started to shift. Like Aesop’s tale about the sun and the wind, God’s kind way is the only one that works.
